The Crusader Journal

By Ece Toksabay and Mehmet Emin Caliskan ANKARA/AFRIN, Syria (Reuters) – Turkish forces will press their offensive against Kurdish YPG fighters along the length of Turkey’s border with Syria and if necessary into northern Iraq, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday. Turkish troops and their rebel allies swept into the northwest Syrian town of Afrin […]

By David Randall NEW YORK, 2018 – U.S. stocks joined a broad decline in global equity markets on Monday as traders turned cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting this week and amid continuing concerns about the threat of a global trade war. At the same time, shares of Facebook Inc shed nearly 7 […]

PARIS (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron’s government plans to tighten controls on the unemployed and increase penalties against those who fail to look hard enough for a job, the labor ministry and union leaders said on Monday. Macron, elected last May on a pro-reform ticket, has already changed labor rules to make it easier […]

TUNIS (Reuters) – A militant blew himself up as Tunisian security forces surrounded him and another fighter in a house near the Libyan border on Monday, the interior ministry said. Forces then shot the second man dead in the coastal town of Ben Guerdan, officials added. A security source said the men were likely to […]

By Mircely Guanipa PUNTO FIJO (Reuters) – Venezuela has arrested the former refining boss of state oil company PDVSA for alleged corruption, two sources told Reuters on Monday, extending a crackdown on the OPEC nation’s ailing oil sector. Veteran oil executive Jesus Luongo joins a list of dozens of oil managers who have been arrested […]

By Jon Herskovitz AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – Police in Texas fear a serial bomber planted four powerful explosive devices that have killed two people and injured four others this month, raising fears in the state capital Austin of another attack. Investigators said they have no clear idea what motivated the series of attacks, which began […]

By Kirsti Knolle VIENNA (Reuters) – Austria’s capital Vienna once again defended its position as the city offering the best quality of life in the world, while Iraq’s capital Baghdad remains the worst in an annual survey from consulting firm Mercer. Mercer’s survey of 231 cities helps companies and organizations determine compensation and hardship allowances […]

(Reuters) – Mississippi’s governor signed into law on Monday the most restrictive abortion measure in the United States, which was immediately challenged in court by abortion rights advocates who say it is unconstitutional. Republican Governor Phil Bryant said he was proud to sign the bill banning abortion after 15 weeks of gestation with some exceptions, […]

ABUJA (Reuters) – Nigerian security forces were warned about the presence of Boko Haram fighters near the town of Dapchi, but failed to respond, allowing insurgents to kidnap 110 schoolgirls almost unharrassed, Amnesty International said on Tuesday. The kidnapping on Feb. 19 of the girls from Dapchi, aged between 11-19, had echoes of the Islamist […]

By Gabriela Baczynska and Alastair Macdonald BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Britain and the European Union agreed on Monday to a transition period to avoid a “cliff edge” Brexit next year — though only after London accepted a potential solution for Northern Ireland’s land border that may face stiff opposition at home. The pound surged on confirmation […]

Central banks told to think twice before boarding Bitcoin bandwagon

Representation of the Bitcoin virtual currency standing on the PC motherboard is seen in this illustration picture, February 3, 2018. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

By Huw Jones

LONDON (Reuters) – Central banks should think hard about potential risks and spillovers before issuing their own cryptocurrency, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said in a report on Monday.

The report by two committees at the BIS, a forum whose members include the U.S. Federal Reserve and European Central Bank, is wary of central banks issuing their own central bank digital currency, or CBDC.

“There are risks we do not fully understand at this point,” said Jacqueline Loh, chair of the BIS markets committee.

“Any step towards a possible launch of a CBDC should be subject to careful and thorough consideration,” added Loh, who is also deputy managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

The report looks at the possible impact of a “wholesale” digital currency only for a limited audience like banks, and a “retail” version for all.

Benoit Coeure, who chairs the BIS committee on payments and market infrastructure, said there was more caution with the “uncharted waters” of a retail CBDC.

It could impact deposits, a major source of funding for commercial banks, with implications for financial stability in times of market stress, the report said.

There was no evidence that digital currencies would allow central banks to implement monetary policy better than with tools they already have.

No bank has issued a digital currency, though the Riksbank in Sweden, where the use of cash has fallen, is studying a retail e-krona for small payments. It said last month its study won’t be finalised until late 2019, later than initially indicated.

The BIS report said blockchain or the distributed ledger technology (DLT) that underpins cryptocurrencies, could make settling trades of securities and forex more efficient.

“DLT is where the action is,” said Coeure, who is also an ECB executive board member.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said that while a CBDC needed careful consideration, a more immediate priority is how to use the new technologies to meet the current demand for fully reliable, real-time payments.

NO CONCRETE ACTION

The BIS report comes at a time when privately issued cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have seen huge price swings to trigger stark investor warnings from regulators.

This has not crimped the sector’s enthusiasm, however.

CaskCoin launched on Monday the “first” cryptocurrency that gives investors a chance to own a share in a 40 million pound portfolio of “world class” whisky stored in a Scottish warehouse.

The BIS report is timed to inform discussion among central bankers and finance ministers from the Group of 20 Economies (G20). They meet in Buenos Aires early next week to discuss if new regulation is needed for private cryptocurrencies.

The Financial Stability Board, the G20’s regulatory watchdog headed by Carney, will report on the private cryptocurrencies.

“It’s clearly a learning curve and regulators across the world have addressed what are the immediate risks created by private digital tokens,” Coeure said.

Investor protection along with anti-money laundering and terrorist financing safeguards are the priority, while consideration of cryptocurrencies’ underlying and futures markets would come later, Coeure said.

“So any discussion in the G20 next week will be likely to be forward looking, discussing the pros and cons of regulation, but don’t expect concrete action, it’s more about comparing experiences so far,” Coeure said.